Most long-running sitcoms include special holiday-themed episodes. Christmas and Thanksgiving seem to be the most common, as they enjoy comedic tributes every year. But every once in a while, audiences are also treated to episodes featuring green beer, leprechauns and hilarious drunken mishaps.
This year, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we’re highlighting seven St. Patrick’s Day-themed episodes from some of our most-beloved sitcoms.
Read on to relive your favorite St. Paddy’s Day moments in television.
1. “St. Patrick’s Day,” The Office (Season 6, Episode 17)
“It is the closest that the Irish will ever get to Christmas.”
Don’t you just miss Michael Scott? The Office lost a bit of its magic when Steve Carell’s character left in season seven. And it wasn’t just Michael’s empty-headed comments or Dwight’s “mega desk” obsession that made this such a great episode. It’s that even in the midst of the funny, yet immature tendencies of the characters that are always on display, even then, one of the most juvenile of them, finally grows up a little. All of the hallmarks of St. Paddy’s day are present in this episode, but they help set Michael up to finally step up as a manager, in a way that is so authentically him, as a protector of the employees he cares so much for.
2. “No Tomorrow,” How I Met Your Mother (Season 3, Episode 12)
In this episode, a few of the friends in How I Met Your Mother decide to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day differently. But as in most sitcoms, things rarely go as planned. A night of G-rated board games turns into a night of tears, crooked apartments and even more crooked people. Bright side? At least this episode leaves you feeling like you’re closer to figuring out the identity of the mother of Ted’s children. Kind of.
3. “St. Patrick’s Day,” 30 Rock (Season 6, Episode 12)
Who doesn’t love a good Dennis Duffy episode? Liz Lemon, apparently. Dennis is a crude and inconsiderate ex-boyfriend and it’s no wonder that when Liz finally feels like she’s got it together in the romance department, Dennis’ sudden appearance on St. Patrick’s Day makes her feel like her luck’s about to take a horrible turn.
4. “Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes,” The Simpsons (Season 20, Episode 1)
There are crazed warring leprechauns. Lisa temporarily stops a riot with a sing-along. And there are even a story-lines involving Homer working as a bounty-hunter and Marge working at an erotic bakery. How are you not already watching this?
5. “The Sex Drug,” The Drew Carey Show (Season 3, Episode 21)
A classic St. Patrick’s Day episode that blends wonderfully absurd humor with green beer. There’s even a Rube-Goldberg like process involving a dog, a bird and sex drugs that all combine to pollute a batch of the gang’s St. Patrick’s Day Buzz Beer. And Drew’s sex-drug intoxicated courtroom antics don’t hurt the episode either.
6. “The Luck of the Fryrish,” Futurama (Season 3, Episode 10)
While not specifically set during St. Patrick’s Day, the holiday’s themes are all there. There’s extraordinary luck furnished by a seven-leaf clover and a heartwarming story about how Fry’s brother named his son after Fry in memory of the brother he’d lost. It’s not a drunken comedy but it’s filled with luck and familial love that’s managed to span centuries. What more could you want?
7. “Bar Wars VII: The Naked Prey,” Cheers (Season 11, Episode 19)
A St. Patrick’s Day prank war (and bet) gone wrong involves poor Woody getting walled up within Cheers’ own bar and a rival bar owner getting swindled out of his own bar by the local pickpocket. Complete with bulldozers and a nude musical performance by the men of Cheers, you really can’t go wrong with celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with this classic episode.